Provided is an apparatus for monitoring an exchanging process of a semiconductor part and a method for the same. The apparatus comprises finger having a structure capable of loading the part and transferred by a robot for exchanging; and at least one image obtaining means coupled to the finger and obtaining an image of an exchanging position.
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1. An apparatus for monitoring an exchanging process of a semiconductor part, comprising;
a finger having a pair of hands formed at one end portion thereof and an image obtaining means disposed in each of the hands, the finger being configured to be coupled with a robot arm;
a loading unit detachably attached on the finger, the loading unit being configured to load the semiconductor part; and
a processor disposed in the loading unit and wirelessly connected to the image obtaining means, the processor being configured to process an image obtained by the image obtaining means to be a wireless transmittable data and wirelessly transmit the wireless transmittable data to an external controlling unit.
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The present invention relates to an apparatus for monitoring an exchanging process of a semiconductor part and a method for the same, in particular, the apparatus and the method for detecting a fixing position to avoid a processing error generated from an arranging error in course of or after exchanging semiconductor parts.
A consumable article such as an edge ring used in a semiconductor manufacturing field should be replaced periodically. The edge ring may have a function to restrict a plasma or gas flow at a wafer edge for enhancing a process uniformity or reliability. For replacing the edge ring, an inner volume of a chamber should be in an atmospheric pressure condition for removing a lid. But, if the replacement of the edge ring is performed in a vacuum condition by a robot, then a time for replacement and back-up of a facility may be reduced to improve productivity. Korean patent publication No. 10-2017-0054248 discloses a cluster tool assembly for removing a consumable part and replacing the part in a processor module installed at the cluster tool assembly. And also, Korean patent publication No. 10-2011-0056841 discloses a load lock chamber including an aligning apparatus for a wafer. It is advantageous in a manufacturing efficiency that a certain change of a semiconductor processing facility is minimized and the time for exchanging decreases during replacing the article. And the means for avoiding alignment errors which may be brought about during replacing the article is needed, thereby satisfying a desired degree of precision for semiconductor processing. However, the prior arts do not disclose a technique with the advantages.
The object of the present invention is to provide with an apparatus for monitoring an exchanging process of a semiconductor part and a method for the same, wherein a fixing position of the part in course of or after exchanging is detected for verifying the part is fixed at a predetermined position and the fixing position may be corrected for avoiding a processing error due to an exchanging error.
In an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for monitoring an exchanging process of a semiconductor part comprises a finger having a structure capable of loading the part and transferred by a robot for exchanging; and at least one image obtaining means coupled to the finger and obtaining an image of an exchanging position.
In other embodiment of the present invention, the finger comprises a pair of hands where the image obtaining means are secured respectively.
In another embodiment of the present invention, an image obtained by the image obtaining means is processed as a wireless transmittable data for transmitting in a wireless communication.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, the part is an edge ring coupled around a wafer, and the image obtaining means obtains an image for detecting a separation distance between an electrostatic chuck and the edge.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, a method for monitoring an exchanging process of a semiconductor part comprises fixing the part transferred by a robot arm at an exchanging position; preparing a part exchanging means having a camera module to transmit an obtained image via a wireless communication; moving the part exchanging means to the exchanging position; obtaining at least one image of different portions of the fixed part, and transmitting the image via a wireless communication; extracting at least one parameter value from the image, and judging whether the value is within a reference range; and storing the parameter value, wherein the camera module obtains the image through a hole formed at the part exchanging means.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, the camera module obtains a state information of a processing chamber.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, a power for the camera module is supplied through the robot arm.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The part may be an edge ring for securing a wafer at a predetermined location in a course of semiconductor process, but not limited to, and the apparatus can monitor an exchanging process of any consumable parts or any parts to be exchanged owing to wearing out. The consumable parts have to be exchanged because of their use-by date, defects or the like, the exchanging part may be a new one for substituting the exchanged part. The apparatus for monitoring may be moved into a processing chamber by an automatic transferring apparatus such as a robot arm. As shown in
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The finger 12 may be moved within the processing chamber 41 through an opening 43 for fixing the exchanging edge ring 32 around the electrostatic chuck 31 where the exchanged edge ring is removed P41. If the exchanging edge ring 32 is fixed around the electrostatic chick 31, then the finger 12 may be moved within the processing chamber 41 again through the opening 43 P43. The image obtaining means 14a such as the camera has been loaded on the hand 12a P42, and the finger is the same as or different from that for fixing the edge ring 32. As the finger 12 enters the processing chamber 41, the image obtaining means 14a may obtain an image for calculating a separation distance between the edge ring 32 and the electrostatic chuck 31 at first position P1. And then the image obtaining means 14a may be moved to a second position P2 different from the first position P1 for obtaining the other image for calculating a second separation distance between the edge ring 32 and the electrostatic chuck 31 to digitize the separation distances at position P1 and position P2. As described above, the processor 13 may be arranged at the finger 14 or any other proper place, and the image obtaining means 14a and the processing 13 may form a wireless transmitting system for transmitting the obtained image to the outside via wireless communication. Images may be obtained at two or more positions to transmit the images to the controlling module displaced at the outside via the wireless transmitting system P45. The controlling module may judge that the digitized data calculated form the transmitted images is within a predetermined range according to a processing step P46. If the digitized data is out of the range NO, then the alarm signal or an error signal may be generated. And the finger may be moved to the processing chamber again for correcting the fixing position of the edge ring 32 P47. Otherwise, if the digitized data is within the range YES, then the digitized data may be stored P48. In the above example, only one image obtaining means 14a is depicted for a convenience of explanation, but a pair of image obtaining means may be installed at a pair of the hands. And also, the position P1, P2 may be determined in various ways. And also, the image obtaining means 14a can detect a condition of the processing chamber 41 as well as the fixed position of the edge ring 32. The image obtaining means 14a may have various functions, but not limited to. And various kinds of parts may be exchanged by the exchanging module.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
Lee, Sang Woo, Choi, Woo Hyung
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